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All Rise...

Judge Joel Pearce says you can't beat the surreal thing, but watch out for Luis Bunuel's version of New Coke.

The Charge

The legendary master of surrealist cinema.

Opening Statement

Luis Bunuel is an important filmmaker, influential since 1929 when he
delivered Un Chien Andalou onto an unsuspecting world. He released many
other classics over the years, as well as many that are not as well-known. This
collection features Gran Casino, a film Bunuel was pressured to make in
Mexican exile, and The Young One, one of his two English-language
films.

Facts of the Case

Created in 1947, Gran Casino tells the story of two escaped exiles,
Gerardo Ramirez (Jorge Negrete, Dos Tipos de Cuidado) and Demetrio Garcia
(Julio Villareal). They head into the Mexican oil fields, hoping to find their
fortune. They arrive to a small oil field operated by Jose Enrique (Francisco
Jambrina), who refuses to sell out to the large corporation. They get him up and
running again, but he soon disappears under mysterious circumstances. Jose
Enrique's sister Mercedes (Libertad Lamarque) arrives from Argentina to learn
what has happened. She suspects Gerardo and Demetrio of the kidnapping, which
puts them all in danger.

The other film in the collection is The Young One, released in 1960.
In it, a black jazz musician named Traver (Bernie Hamilton, Bucktown) is
falsely accused of rape and escapes to a remote island. There aren't many
permanent inhabitants of the island, but a cruel racist game warden named Miller
(Zachary Scott, Natchez Trace) is in charge. Also present is an orphaned
teenager named Evvie (Key Meersman). She has lived a very sheltered life, but is
starting to blossom nicely, which hasn't escaped Miller's attention. When she
takes notice of Traver, though, it begins a cycle of vicious conflict between
the men.

The Evidence

As with so many multi-film sets, this one contains one great film, and one
total dud. In this case, the dud is Gran Casino, which gives Bunuel
little opportunity to show off his cinematic talents. It's a simplistic
melodrama, tossed together with far more consideration to the out-of-place music
numbers than it does to narrative consistency. Even the climax of the film is
interrupted by a musical number, destroying any small amount of tension that has
built up.

There are a few hints of Bunuel's style here, but the audience has to go
searching for it. It is interested in social justice and the rights of the lower
class. Gerardo and Demetrio are common heroes, starting out wrongfully
imprisoned and ending up in a conflict between the wealthy. The bad guys are
from outside Mexico, setting them up as postcolonial heroes against the colonial
perpetrators. Unfortunately, the studio was simply interested in musical numbers
sung by popular singers, cheap melodrama, and generic plot devices. It's
reported that Bunuel was bored by the story, and he doesn't do much to try to
hide it.

Sometimes, even the greatest artists get trapped in situations beyond their
control, and just need to do some work to get a paycheck and a Mexican
citizenship. This is Bunuel's paycheck film, and it's hard to blame him too
much. He got the job and made the film, shot it competently, and lived to make
better films. Perhaps that's all Gran Casino was ever meant to be. Still,
it's certainly not worth hunting down now.

Much better is The Young One, which shows the social criticism and
daring filmmaking that Bunuel is famous for. It's the kind of film that would
have been made by few American directors in 1960, as the country was knee deep
in the civil rights movement. It confronts racism head-on, using the conflict
between Traver and Miller as a microcosm for the larger social conflict of the
time. Though neither of these men is heroic, we quickly discover that Miller is
more reprehensible than we could imagine, and that Traver is simply trying to
make the best of a bad situation.

What makes The Young One so different from the countless other
cat-and-mouse films that have been made is the character of Evvie. She is young
and completely innocent, far too young to be living on an island with a man like
Miller. Both men are shocked to see how free and immodest she is. Miller sees
this as an opportunity; Traver sees it as a problem. It's an obvious plug to
show that Miller is far more dangerous to the girl than accused rapist Traver
is, and Bunuel takes that story to places that I didn't expect to see in a film
from 1960. The performances here are better also, even though Traver's '50s
jazz-flavored slang doesn't seem quite as hip as it was then. It also has more
racial slurs than the average rap album as well, but that's just a reflection of
the time as well. Because Bunuel cares about the telling of this story, it's
also much more impressively filmed. It's shot with an unconventional eye, using
grainy black-and-white to create contrasts and set up ideas.

If Gran Casino is the lost Bunuel film that should stay lost forever,
The Young One is the unconventional one that needs to be recovered. I can
only imagine how edgy it felt when it was released 45 years ago, and it still
feels surprisingly contemporary now. Overall, this collection is a study in
contrasts. It's fascinating to see how different two films from the same
director can be. We also see how quickly popular films can become aged and
cheesy, and how edgy, daring film can feel fresh for decades. If for that reason
only, I suppose it's good that Gran Casino was released as well.

Lionsgate has done an excellent job with the discs. Gran Casino looks
excellent for its age, and the sound is quite clear. It has a somewhat
restrained commentary track by film historian Philip Kemp, who knows full well
that he's discussing a master's thoroughly inferior work. The Young One
is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The picture is fantastic, and
the sound is also sharp and clean. There is a commentary track here, as well,
with Peter Evans and Isabel Santaolalla. Because there are two of them, it is
less sparse than the other commentary.

Closing Statement

For you Netflix folk out there, you need to be aware that the two discs in
this set are mislabeled. If you order The Young One, which I do
recommend, you may end up with Gran Casino, which I can't recommend in
good conscience. For fans of Bunuel or classic films in general, this set is an
interesting exploration of a master's lesser-known work.

The Verdict

The Young One is free to go, but Gran Casino is guilty of all
charges. That's not totally Bunuel's fault, so I'm going to give him a pass on
this one.